PHILIPSBURG:--- The Haitian Association of Sint Maarten (HASMA) Along with the Le Sommet Foundation took part in this year's Diamond 26 emancipation run for freedom 2022 under the theme "Ancestral echos" The run is an initiative of the Ministry of EYCS's Culture department by the government of St Maarten.
Attended by various heads of state, dignitaries, elected officials, spectators, and participants, the run starts at the old ruins of the former diamonds plantation in Cole bay roundabout proceeding through a trail that leads to the Saint-Jean Plantation in Bellevue-Marigot.
The run was concluded by a theatrical display of a dance that was created when slavery was abolished on St. Maarten / St. Martin. Known as the Pomun Dance, It is referred to as the dance of emancipation or freedom, and recollects the period of slavery and eyewitness testimony of how slaves celebrated the day when slavery was abolished.
"We are happy to have taken part in this event. It is our first time and we look forward to future emancipation runs". Jimmy Jean Louis- President of (HASMA) Haitian Association of Sint Maarten.
"It is rather Symbolic, what we are doing here. Being able to partake in this historical and culturally potent event helped to conceptualize what our accessors went through. It serves as a reminder of how privileged we are. It is also a call to combat! to continue fighting to overcome all the various modern-day strongholds that plague us today.
For us, the Haitian community in St Maarten is particularly heartwarming that our ancestors are recognized as one of the catalysts of the abolishment of slavery and how their actions were integral to the outside world.
One of our goals at HASMA is to cultivate the integration of Haitian to the Sint Maarten culture and way of being and become better interactive within the community." Fabio Doralice - President of the Le Sommet foundation and Vice-President of HASMA.
